Things Worth Doing Are Often The Hardest

My MBA from Duke. Giving birth to four children, and raising them so far. Donating my mom’s kidneys, and corneas when she died. Things worth doing are often the hardest to do.

This week, I got a letter from the gentleman who received my mom’s kidneys after she died two and a half years ago. Making the decision to donate my mom’s organs was an easy decision, but at the same time, it was hard to make sure that her wishes were followed. Organ donation can be surprisingly difficult to do, despite all of the appeals to everyone for more organs. I was willing to donate my mother’s organs, but it turns out that a person has to die in a way that is compatible with organ donation. They have to be able to perform a large number of tests, to ensure that the organs are safe, and that means keeping someone on life support longer to do that. Some families aren’t willing to deal with the waits. There are other restrictions that made it difficult. In the end, I had to be very sure that I wanted to go through with it, and insist on it happening. I’ll spare you all of the gory details. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done, yet, most worthwhile.

The things that are most worth having are worth working for, even in the face of opposition, tough working conditions, and adversity, are the most worthwhile. They can be the hardest to obtain, and the sweetest, and most bittersweet. Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and do the things that are worth doing even though they are the hardest. For me, I’m proud of these things. Of course, I’m also proud of over 21 years of marriage. But I won’t say that has been quite so hard.